Nuclear Security Summit Goes Dutch

The Netherlands is making every effort to secure the Nuclear Security Summit it is hosting in The Hague on 24-25 March, deploying surface-to-air missiles, helicopters and bomb-sniffing dogs.

The Dutch Ground-based Air Defense Command has deployed four NASAM launcher units and an air defense radar. The radar has been installed on an elevated platform to avoid ground clutter and its radar picture is combined with that of two NATO airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft and the De Zeven Pronvinciën LCF air defense frigate just off the coast.

Two Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16s will patrol Dutch airspace during the summit and additional fighters are on standby at Volkel and Leeuwaarden, supported by two KDC-10 tankers at Eindhoven air base. The Holland and Friesland ocean patrol vessels, each with an NH90 maritime helicopter on board, are patrolling further out to sea.

A total of 19 military and police helicopters are also on standby, including five Apaches, four Cougars and two Chinooks deployed to the former naval air base of Valkenburg.

While the Nuclear Security Summit may be secure, the crisis in Ukraine is casting a shadow on it, with Western diplomats reportedly fearing that Russia will stop cooperating on nuclear issues in retaliation for U.S. and European sanctions.